White People in the News – Political Prisoner Edition

Summary:

Two white people from the Somerville, MA created an organization called “TEAL: Typo Eradication Advancement League,” and vowed to travel across the country fixing typos. This is especially interesting since every other time two late 20s white males have traveled across the country it has been to visit all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums.

All was well until the two men defaced a hand painted sign in Grand Canyon National Park. They were caught, arrested, fined, and banned from National Parks for one year.

While white people have little trouble paying fines of $3,000, the ban from public parks for one full year is considered especially harsh considering white people’s need for camping and other outdoor activities.

Questions for discussion:

When there is a typo on a vintage sign, what is more important: Grammar or character?

Once all typos have been corrected, what will be the next cause for white people to solve? (side note: do not say Africa, white people are already fast at work making t-shirts)

I can see why there is so much frustration over punctuation and spelling. A quick glance at a few signs introduces new and fun ways to spell words: easy (E-Z), quick (quik, qwik, kwik), check (chek, and those pesky Czechs) and on and on…

It can’t really be enforced. But…they risk a federal trespassing charge if they are caught. So…it would all depend on how serious they are about their cause.

Most white people love to be activists for their cause, but they generally hate the associated risks. For instance, they’ll chain themselves in little circles around trees or other causes…but if the police take pictures or drag them around a bit they’ll whine like stuck pigs.

SWPL part duex on August 25, 2008 at 3:52 am
The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo
by Jessica Mosby

“Rape has always been used as a weapon of war” is the opening line of the new documentary film The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo. For 76 minutes the film exposes the incredibly brutal civil war that has raged for over ten years in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Not only have over four million people been killed, but over 250,000 women and girls have been raped, kidnapped, and tortured.The film, which premiers on HBO April 8th, vividly captures the silent and often ignored rape survivors in their country where chaos and violence are part of every day. One element that makes the film so powerful is that director Lisa F. Jackson has a reason to feel very much connected to the subject matter: in 1976 she was gang-raped as she was leaving her Washington D.C. office late at night. The three men who attacked her were never caught.

Jackson bravely traveled alone to the war torn regions of eastern Congo interviewing rape survivors; her own rape allows her to make a special connection with the Congolese women. In one scene, when Jackson tells her own story, the women suspect that such an atrocity could not happen in the United States. One woman asks her, “Was there a war in your country?” Everyone seems doubtful until Jackson produces the newspaper articles documenting her story. Jackson slowly gains everyone’s trust, and the resulting footage is truly harrowing.

“It became so much woman to woman. I very quickly lost that sense of them being ‘other.’ It made it easier, but it also made it harder…there were a lot of tears alone in my room at night,” said Jackson during a recent phone interview. “I would find myself, at Panzi or in the bush for instance, and there were entire villages of women who had been raped – there was not a woman there who had not suffered.”

The unending conflict in the DRC has led to an exponential increase in the number of rapes. Most of the rapists are members of the armed militias, and therefore have impunity. The film makes it clear that prosecution is unlikely because most survivors do not report their rape and, even if they do contact the authorities, there is only one person – National Police officer Major Honorine Munyole – who investigates sex crimes in the eastern portion of the country.

Shame and social stigmas are universal and often prevent women anywhere from reporting rape; in the DRC these attitudes are particularly prevalent. As Marie Jeanne, a 34 year old mother of eight tells Jackson, she was gang-raped by five Rwandan soldiers when she was five months pregnant and was too ill to escape. Her husband, who later left her and their children, told the family that Marie Jeanne “wanted to be raped.” Sadly, this attitude of blaming the survivor is all too common: many women find themselves abandoned by their families after being raped.

Viewers should be warned of the film’s truly upsetting content. Survivors describe the brutality of their rapes very bluntly. Your heart will break when 12 year old Safi, whose eyes are much too sad for someone so young, describes being raped at age 11 while soldiers looted her home.

Women of all ages vividly describe being raped by soldiers who also use sticks and guns to literally mutilate their genitalia and internal organs. The three soldiers who raped 70 year old Maria told her “you’re not too old for us.” After being raped, women must not only suffer the physiological consequences of sexual violence, but many, including Niota, who was raped by two soldiers at the age of 42, must endure a life of fistula and incontinence. Over thirty percent of women raped in the DRC contract HIV/AIDS.

The strength of the Congolese women Jackson meets is inspiring. Even after being raped and subsequently rejected by their families, women will walk for months through dense forests in search of urgent medical care. Once they reach a hospital – such as the Panzi hospital, which specializes in treating survivors of sexual violence – they must then wait even longer for a hospital bed to become available.

Panzi’s medical director Dr. Denis Mukwege, who personally treats many of the rape survivors, asks the unfortunately obvious questions, “Why is this happening? Why use sex in order to humiliate and defeat someone? To threaten someone so they flee their village? Why use sex? This is the monstrosity of this century.”

One wonders about the men who would commit such heinous acts against innocent women and girls. Jackson, along with United Nations translator and liaison Bernard Kalume, travel deep into the jungles of the Congo to interview soldiers. That footage, which Jackson only obtained by putting herself in grave danger, is also incredible.

For the most part, the soldiers take little responsibility for their actions; none seem remorseful. Rather, they blame the civil war for creating a situation where they must be away fighting instead of being in their villages with their families. As one man tells Jackson, he makes women suffer because he is suffering.

There is also a markedly misogynistic rationale behind the rapes: the soldiers express the deep-rooted social belief that women are inferior and therefore men can take what they want from them – including sex. Even when Jackson directly asks the men how they would feel if their mothers and sisters were raped, the grave reality of the sexual violence these soldiers have committed doesn’t seem to resonate with them.

After witnessing these interviews, Kalume – whose first wife, a Tutsi, was murdered during Rwandan genocide in 1994 – is very upset about what his native Congo has become. He thinks of his daughters and the terrible fate that befalls so many Congolese women. “If a society cannot protect women and kids, what kind of society is that?” asks Kalume. “If men themselves start to torture, to kill, to kidnap, to rape women and teenagers, how can you say this is normal, a society of human beings? It becomes just a real jungle – that is what we are living in – it’s a real jungle.”

In the DRC, two-thirds of women are illiterate and most do not have any employable skills. Couple that with a crumbled infrastructure and few resources, and you have the desperate situation of Congolese rape survivors. Jackson visits a Catholic church where nuns have organized a support group for them. While the group is able to help women cope emotionally, the church doesn’t have enough food, medicine, or clothes to go around.

Such extreme poverty should not be happening in a country with such vast natural resources. But the Congolese people are not benefiting from the gold, diamonds, and coltan (a metallic ore used in all computers, cell phones, and DVD players) sales; instead, most of the natural resources are stolen and illegally exported – and ironically the profits then fuel the conflict.

While The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo is very personal and informative, Jackson’s tone is never heavy-handed or didactic. Prior to her trip to the DRC, she had collected cosmetic samples to give to the women she planned to meet and interview. But after meeting women whose hardships are almost too terrible to be real, Jackson realizes that giving a rape survivor who has contracted HIV/AIDS a miniature lipstick just seems trite and irrelevant. Jackson’s honesty and candor are extremely refreshing.

If you watch the documentary expecting easy solutions, know that the film doesn’t present any. According to Jackson, “There are so many little components that must fall into place for them to have futures, not to just merely exist.” The official international response – by UN peacekeepers and international aid groups – has made few inroads. Some UN peacekeepers have even been accused of rape themselves and of trading necessities, such as milk and bread, for sex. On the other hand some female international aid workers have been raped by the militias.

In July of 2007 a United Nations Human Rights Council on violence against women report found, to no one’s surprise, that sexual violence was rampant in the DRC and the government’s response was almost non-existent. In January of 2008, a peace deal was signed which included an official cease fire and resettlement program. But these official reports and policies are doing little to aid the plight of rape survivors. And there is already a second generation of survivors: the children of rape – including three year old Lumiere, who was conceived when her mother Imakile was raped by two Rwandan soldiers at age 15 – who must contend with the social stigmas associated with sexual violence.

I saw the film at the Sundance Film Festival where it won the Special Jury Prize: Documentary. The press screening was the first festival event where I did not have to wait in line; when the film started, the theatre was only half full. I don’t know if the poor turnout was a reflection of people’s lack of interest in the subject matter, or if people just want to ignore the human rights violations happening a world away because hearing women describe their horrific rapes and torture is so gut-wrenching.

Jackson hopes that the documentary will start a grassroots movement for change, similar to the movement to end the genocide in Darfur. Even if viewers don’t lobby the United States Congressional Subcommittee on Human Rights and Law – as Jackson did on April 2nd – she hopes “that people are motivated to find out more and educate themselves on the conflict.”

After watching The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo it is painfully obvious that the international community, individuals and governments alike, cannot continue to silently stand by for another ten years. Already generations of women have been emotionally and physically brutalized while their unrepentant perpetrators enjoy immunity.

i’m sure they are writing a blog about thier exploits, hoping to pile up enough hits to land a book deal and allow them to expand their trailblazing exploits into new, exciting arenas , like perhaps visiting every 6-Flags or every state fair or something like that.

1. This is a tough one, grammar is extremely important but then again, so is character. I think the right way to answer this question is to ask one’s self, what happens if either is lacking? Lack of grammar could mean that one is uneducated, which is not acceptable to white people, but on the other hand, it could simply mean that one cannot afford an education or is underpriviledged, which, while not ideal, is at least acceptable and even sympathized with, by white people. Lack of character, on the other hand, suggests corporatization, homogenization, and many other -ization’s which are simply not acceptable under any circumstance to white people. So I would say the character is more important than grammar, thus, these two otherwise well-meaning white people were in the wrong in this case.

2. The next thing is already here – fatty foods. Various awareness campaigns are already underway, usually in the form of organic foods, bans of trans-fats, and attempts to remove things like soda from public schools. White people are almost universally passionate about this issue, especially given the “obesity crisis”.

i am starting an awareness campaign to inform people how dangerous Awareness Campaigns can be…and starting a non-profit to raise awareness….it’s called the Campaign to Raise Awareness of Unwarranted Causes and Awareness Campaigns.

These men are my heroes. Nostalgia should never replace correctness! What message is the NPS sending here? The vandalism was the typo…not the fix.
I wonder if they made it to Old Faithful to fix the “Busses park here” signs that always make me cringe?

Is this correct-the-typos project truly white? I thought it was dorky. White-dorky, to be sure, but much more dorky than white.

Also, look at their clothes, their vacant gazes. It’s a solid bet this trip is the very best idea they could come up with. A couple of former B- students who have been working out of their field for the chump change they’re worth ever since they graduated.

These are the wrong kind of white people, and can’t be saved. Even if they went out and bought a Prius, they would just be the wrong kind of white people in a Prius.

This is the best white people’s facial expressions photo ever. The cat on the left has that Messianic eyes-widening to a (terrifying) tee while his chum on the right is the approachable, affable, witty yet passionate one. If you hadn’t told me, I’d of thought they were about raising awareness for trans fatty acids or rape in the Congo or something, nothing as trivial as typo correction.

The next problem to solve is getting the entire world to “go green” (drive Priuses, eat sustainably farmed foods, etc).

Just wanted to add: these guys apparently added a comma and an apostrophe to the national park sign. Two punctuation marks. The real issue here is: How valuable can a sign really be if it has improper punctuation? Certainly not worth $3000, that’s for sure.

PS Nobody cares about the violent chimp-out crime rate in South Africa. Since the Whites were overthrown by the communists and anti-White racists, South Africa is no longer newsworthy no matter how many blacks get killed or have HIV there.

The key to getting in the news is to support hatred of Whites, that will get attention.

If you want attention to the Congo situation, FIND A WAY TO MAKE WHITES LOOK BAD, then the media will pay attention (e.g. Duke rape case, Jena Six, etc.).

Place a “noose” next to a black rape scene and tell the media about it, they’ll come running in hordes to cover your story.

Ordinarily, typos trump all (if I remember, Dan “Potatoe” Quayle’s mailbox read “Quayle’s” — that guy should have been sentenced to remedial 10th grade with Mrs. Puffenberger. However, in the case of a vintage sign, the sign’s integrity trumps other considerations. Sorry guys, you should have been more astute. Any other questions?

I believe that they were reprimanded fittingly. Of course this is in considering that said sign was in fact a historical marker. Historic publicly displayed grammatical errors are excusable. This is primarily because they serve as a haunting reminder of how far we have come as a society, at least in regards to the widespread education in advanced grammar. Hence they were merely defacing something very precious and significant in a rather ruthless and ignorant manner.

Thursday, August 14, 2008
8 Kurdish political activist sentenced to death
According to reports from the “Campaign to stop the death penalty in Kurdistan”, so far 8 political activists have been sentenced to death in the Sanandaj district –West of Iran.

This includes Habibollah Latifi a student from the law faculty of Sanandaj University in Ilam province.

Habibollah , 26 years old , has been in detention since the beginning of September 2007.

He has been charged for being an infidel (The term used against those who oppose the regime through armed struggle). He has also been charged to death for co-operating with Kurdish opposition parties by so called Sanandaj “revolutionary court”, on 2 August 2008.

It is noticeable that the charge has not yet been officially issued to his lawyer Mr.Nemat Ahmadi.

During his detention , Mr.Latifi has been subjected to violent torture and punishments , resulting in internal hemorrhage and occasional unconsciousness .

The deterioration of his physical condition forced his transfer to Tohid hospital and later to the public social hospital of Sanandaj.

By the way, if the two smirky douche-bags in the photo wanted to do something meaningful, they could help their own first,or reproduce or something. Not wory about some f’n tribal “Kurds” or a negro chimp-out in Congo.

xtian, get off your high horse, it’s Whites that Whites should focus on helping in the 21st Century before we all go down.

My 21 year-old daughter was in Turkey this past spring on a ten day vacation. She said that the Kurds were a much more decent and friendly people than the Turks. She also bought back lots of great pictures of the Turkish countryside, with Kurds in the pictures. For those of you who might think that the Kurds are living in bombed out holes in the grounds eating scraps, that wouldn’t be true either. I am beginning to think that the go see for yourself method of ascertaining the true truth might be the only way to know stuff for sure. Forget the papers, everyone seems to have an agenda.

NEW YORK—Mere seconds after a hotly contested rebound during a game between the vice president’s biggest on-court rivals, a mishandled basketball rolled across the blacktop of “the Cage”—New York’s infamously tough West Fourth Street courts—before being brought to a stop by the wing-tipped foot of Dick Cheney. Witnesses at the scene, whose gazes drifted slowly upward from the loose ball to Cheney’s determined face, said they observed the vice president set his unblinking eyes on the assembled players, pause in the sudden silence, and utter the challenge, “Let’s do this.”

Enlarge Image
The vice president prepares to bring it.
In the heavy stillness brought on by his challenge, Cheney sized up the assembly of players. The collection of local court legends reportedly ranged from hard-grinding seven-footers to tricky, loose-limbed ball handlers, all of whom instantly recognized Cheney from their last meeting: an all-out clash of the titans in late March that ended prematurely when the vice president suffered severe heart palpitations and was shamefully laughed off the court.

It is not known whether the vice president, as he stood on the edge of the court, composed an internal, possibly sound-tracked montage of scenes from the endless hours of training that had brought him back to the Cage. Some experts have said that, even months later, it is likely his opponents’ taunts of “How’s that pacemaker, old man?” “Too slow!” and “No. 2 in the executive branch, No. 2 on the court!” still rang in his ears.

As Cheney remained utterly still, apparently evaluating the scene without reaction or emotion, a sudden gleam of sunlight, which some in attendance claimed was accompanied by a keening high note, reflected from the rim of his trademark glasses.

Cheney On The Court
Eyewitnesses also said Cheney’s nostrils may have flared almost imperceptibly at this time.

Having thoroughly gauged the skill of his opposition, and displaying no evidence of his opinion thereof, Cheney shifted his eyes to the expectant crowd of roughly 300 people, every one of them also motionless and silent. But the former defense secretary remained impassive, moving neither his head nor his facial muscles and reacting in no way whatsoever to the mounting tension, the gathering electricity in the air, or the general feeling that those assembled were about to witness a watershed, possibly life-affirming display of tenacity and heart.

Adding to the tension was the unspoken understanding between the athletes that if Cheney proved triumphant, and managed to somehow outmaneuver his younger, faster rivals, he would win back control of the beloved city landmark he played on as a boy, and could finally have the entire park bulldozed.

Although almost no time has passed since Cheney’s foot came in contact with the basketball, details of the developing scene continue to pour in: A drop of sweat reportedly formed on the temple of one of the more handsome competitors, tracing a line down through the grit on the side of his face, dripping off his jawbone, and splashing on the blacktop in slow motion; an apprehensive young female spectator took her daughter’s hand and protectively drew her closer in anticipation of the epic battle; and a flock of pure white birds suddenly took flight from the roof of a nearby church, their beating wings unusually loud in the moment’s eerie calm.

No other action or motion was reported, save for the whisper of a hot wind.

While it is not known when or if anyone in the tableau will move, analysts predict that the almost timeless moment of buildup will finally end when the most talented of the local hoop stars issues an aggressive yet stoic statement accepting Cheney’s challenge, most likely “Come on if you’re comin’,” “Let’s see what you got, then,” or even simply “Yeah.”

Aides close to Cheney have confirmed that the vice president will then kick the ball to the top of his foot, bounce it to the inside of his left elbow, pop it to his right hand, dribble through his legs while simultaneously executing an ankle-breaking spin move, take two steps to the foul line, leap to the hoop, and dunk the basketball up to his elbows, sending pieces of the chain-link net scattering into the crowd as Master P’s “Make ‘Em Say Ugh” echoes throughout the park.

Ha ha. The first sentence has a comma splice with a missing comma in front of the coordinating conjunction, and the posting is full of flawed syntax and misspellings. Yes, I am white. I believe that only white people can learn formal grammar, and only some of them. This is mostly because we are the only people who care about it.

I abhor white-on-white conflict. Just think about WW1 & WW2 and how many White Christians died, something like 70 million. Add to that the judeo-bolsheviks’ murder of 100 million Russian Christians, and you have some serious White deaths and civil wars that far outweigh the “6 million” the jews are still trying to swindle money after.

Anyway, had Whites not had these insane White civil wars, think about how many more Whites there would be, how many more White girls there would be to have kids, how much better off the USA, Canada, Europe and Australia would be today.

White conflict is sad.

It does need to be emphasized that while “ethnic” conflict among Whites has indeed existed, in the face of NON-WHITE aggression, Whites will drop everything and band together.

Serbs and Croats will stick together to fight the Turk. Stuff like that. Focus on the positive.

The breakdown of Whites really began in the 1960’s and its sickness can be seen in the wrong kinds of Whites, the SWPL types, the deracinated types who are the biggest problem the future of Whites has ever faced. They are more formidible to hurting our future generations than any outsider ever could.

These fucking morons need a new hobby. I am so sick of the idiotic typo patrol guards. My god. It’s called a MISTAKE, people. We all make them. Maybe these retards need to find some girlfriends, unless they’re too busy boning each other.

You and the readers ought to know that these guys recently graduated from Dartmouth College and have been traveling around fixing grammar all year because its the kind of quixotic thing that white people who dont seem to have to work to pay the bills can do. Sigh.

I get that stereotypes should be taken lightly and seldom apply to everyone in a group. I agree that the public image of white people is typically rich, self righteous and dumb. I am disappointed that several of you cannot separate the fact that two arrogant pricks went on a ridiculous mission that accomplished little more than giving a few people something to talk about from the fact that they’re white. Who cares what color they are? If they were purple with green polka dots it would not change the fact that their mission was self promoting. It would not change the fact that a lot of people are dumb and arrogant and it has nothing to do with the color of their skin. Though there are many white people who do fit the descriptions you have so elegantly used, stupidity is not limited to one ethnicity or class of people. Racism and prejudice will always survive in a world where it is allowed. Don’t start awareness campaigns for it. Just don’t allow it. When someone tells a racist joke, don’t laugh uncomfortably and look away. Call them on it. When someone has to start a story by saying, “so this black lady walked in…” don’t wonder to yourself why that was a necessary part of the story. Call them on it. Awareness campaigns are great for whales and polar bears. Racism can’t be fought with campaigns and bumper stickers. Racism can be fought by standing up and speaking up against it.

Once all the typos are fixed, white people will boycott all foreign made products. White people are concerned about the welfare of the workers who make their crap, so by the time all the typos are fixed, the US should have unions for everything, meaning white people will only want to buy american because its “responsible”. White peoples inner racism will also kick in and after the chinese dominance in the Olympics, white people will want them to lose, and the only way they can do that is by crippling their economy, by not buying their products. White people can also afford 5 dollar paper towels (the brown recycled kind, ofcourse), so the upswing in intial costs wont faze them. Plus the economy will surge, thus making them more money to spend on the 5 dollar paper towels.

White people wont boycott foreign goods all together though, only the kind brought to the US by corporations. When a white person is in need of a foreign good, they will research it, fly to the country of origin, buy and ship it back.

Once they cripple the worlds economy they will then install Western type leaders to the most revolution prone countries. This list includes China, Iraq (again), Iran, India, Saudi Arabia, All of Africa, Russia, Denmark (dont ask), Mexico, all of South America, Indonesia, Tibet (they will put the Dali Llama back as the ruler), North Korea, Philipines, Laos, and Japan (only so they can control Sanrio, and their cell phone technology).

Hey here’s an idea: other people’s criminality. The romanticizable kind. The best contemporary epitomizer of this white-people quirk is perhaps Peter Carey. His idea of criminals is pretty close to what a 12th grader’s idea of cool guys is. The naivete is staggering and I just don’t understand why such an overripe juvenile keeps winning literary prizes.

These have to be the dumbest names ever to grace a resume cover. What kind of parent would name their kid something that would foreer prevent them from being taken seriously in a job interview? What kind of a name is Horsee?

If you look at these two clowns, you’ll realise that thier parents haven’t bought them one yet They’ve bought them a bunch of other useless crap. That’s why they are the epitome of egg head smart but have no clue about life. Sad pampered white boys

last night an alarm near my apartment was set off and never stopped ringing, earlier a friend was followed wandering the streets of condesa, today we went down to the mercaditos para los brujas, then walked down a street lined with bikes shops and hookers, and as my body finally adjusted i was reminded that…

I get that stereotypes should be taken lightly and seldom apply to everyone in a group. I agree that the public image of white people is typically rich, self righteous and dumb. I am disappointed that several of you cannot separate the fact that two arrogant pricks went on a ridiculous mission that accomplished little more than giving a few people something to talk about from the fact that they’re white. Who cares what color they are? If they were purple with green polka dots it would not change the fact that their mission was self promoting. It would not change the fact that a lot of people are dumb and arrogant and it has nothing to do with the color of their skin. Though there are many white people who do fit the descriptions you have so elegantly used, stupidity is not limited to one ethnicity or class of people. Racism and prejudice will always survive in a world where it is allowed. Don’t start awareness campaigns for it. Just don’t allow it. When someone tells a racist joke, don’t laugh uncomfortably and look away. Call them on it. When someone has to start a story by saying, “so this black lady walked in…” don’t wonder to yourself why that was a necessary part of the story. Call them on it. Awareness campaigns are great for whales and polar bears. Racism can’t be fought with campaigns and bumper stickers. Racism can be fought by standing up and speaking up against it.

Haha! What a ridiculously white thing to get arrested for. As far as the first discussion question goes, I’d say character is far more important than grammatical error.
Just because I think any “white” person would appreciate a “vintage” anything.

Also, what’s up with people writing negative comments? Do we really have that many people without a sense of humor in the blogosphere?

Man, this post is just packed with typos!! As a white person I could hardly stand to read it.

First of all, it should be “two late 20’s” with an APOSTRAPHE.

Second, in the questions for discussion there was a BLATANTLY INCORRECT use of a comma. It should be: “don’t say Africa; white people are already fast at work … ” with a SEMICOLON NOT A COMMA!!!!!!!!!!

I have been asked to give an I love your blog award to my favorite blogs. Well, you’re one of them. And I wouldn’t have even participated in the contest, but I’m afraid if I don’t I’ll offend my fellow blog friends, because apparently these blog awards are another one of those things white people like, especially white girls who blog:)

WOW, you misspelled apostrOphe AND forgot to use a comma after “As a white person.”

And sorry, but “20s” IS correct. It is plural, not possessive. Your comment about the blatant misuse of a comma is also, well, incorrect. While the semicolon certainly does work in this situation, it was not incorrect to use the comma, as you point out.

Funny how many Asians, Blacks (like my self), and Latinos i see when i’m hiking in the woods. Most people at the national parks are white, because most people in America are. I even saw a Black forest ranger the other day. This post is just stupid.

While Stuff White People Like contributes on a massive scale to our invisibilization (really, it’s like the hipster flipside of Sarah Palin), I’m introducing a new blog called Bitter White Folks for Obama to explode this zero-sum game. My family were part of the 41 million who migrated from the Appalachian/Southern region to the Midwestern states in the postwar period: precisely the demographic from which support for Obama (and progressive politics as such) is supposed to be non-existent. But it was the economic policies of Reagan and the Clinton and Bush dynasties that produced such atrocities as the 2,200 square miles of strip-mining in Appalachia that have put thousands out of work, reduced the average income to the level of Mexico and forced migration to the North in search of jobs. So I actually completely agree with Obama’s sentiment: of course Appalachian and Midwestern communities are “bitter” – and it cannot be denied that more than a few have been mislead into believing that these elites somehow hear their voices. With the increasingly patronizing tone of the Republicans however (which Stuff White People Like only solidifies), many are rapidly becoming unconvinced – at least Obama speaks about the situation as it really is: as he put it in that same speech, “you can go into the toughest neighborhoods, you know working-class lunch-pail folks, you’ll find Obama enthusiasts. And you can go into places where you think I’d be very strong and people will just be skeptical”. For more, check out my blog at http://bitterwhitefolksforobama.blogspot.com

I haven’t been out to our parks in a while. But I do know this — all the express-line signage at Whole Foods Market reads “15 Items or Fewer” — not the dreaded, ungrammatical “15 Items or Less”, so as a white person I can remain content inside my hip urban bubble.

Maybe somebody has already commented on this but I have to ask, are you purposefully making more grammar mistakes these days? I’m really bad at grammar so, when even I recognize them I know there’s something significant going on.

in response to ? #2 the next cause will be figuring out a way to enforce traffic offenses and give tickets or some kind of penalty that will be real and taken seriously to all those law breaker dumb asses who think no one saw them drive like a maniac while I’m minding my own business and my little boys are in the backseat being put in danger over their idiocracy!!!!!

I have 14 words for all you mental morons; We must secure the existance of our race and a future for white children.
To all you people who are probably calling me a racist cracker get off your lazy asses and get a job.Why is it the minorities commit the majorities of crime? statistics do not lie, watch the news and see Hector or Tyrone in cuffs.
This is just the start,as the days go on Juanita and her illegal swarm (who speak 3 words of english between them) are multiplying in record numbers and are being supported by tax payers(welfare).
In closing I’m going to Mexico illegally to better my self,so I expect work, a home,and health care and if I do not get it you are a racist vato. !!!!!!!!!!!

This is from Ed Kalnins, the senior pastor of Wasilla Assembly of God. Palin attended here for most of her adult life, until her new affiliation with a similar church in the state’s capitol, Juneau:

What you see in a terrorist — that’s called the invisible enemy. There has always been an invisible enemy. What you see in Iraq, basically, is a manifestation of what’s going on in this unseen world called the spirit world. … We need to think like Jesus thinks. We are in a time and a season of war, and we need to think like that. We need to develop that instinct. We need to develop as believers the instinct that we are at war, and that war is contending for your faith. … Jesus called us to die. You’re worried about getting hurt? He’s called us to die. Listen, you know we can’t even follow him unless you are willing to give up your life. … I believe that Jesus himself operated from that position of war mode. Everyone say “war mode.” Now you say, wait a minute Ed, he’s like the good shepherd, he’s loving all the time and he’s kind all the time. Oh yes he is — but I also believe that he had a part of his thoughts that knew that he was in a war.

2) “Punishment” in such a way that, while it will mark the perpetrators as in direct contrast to Authority (white people disdain authority unless in peril), doesn’t involve any “unpleasantness” that would require more than a jocular explanation to a potential employer/in-law

3) A punishment that can be considered “harsh” (especially in light of the fact that any right thinking white will be quick to point out the number of “real” crimes that went unaddressed while these two young men were being persecuted).

There’s even added points for “raising awareness” of the slipshod signage in the National Park System.

DOTHAN, Ala. – Larry Blumberg is looking for a few good Jews to move to his corner of the Bible Belt.

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Blumberg is chairman of an organization offering Jewish families as much as $50,000 to relocate to Dothan, an overwhelmingly Christian town of 58,000 that calls itself the Peanut Capital of the World. Get involved at Temple Emanu-El and stay at least five years, the group’s leaders say, and the money doesn’t have to be repaid.

More Jews are living in the South than ever — about 386,000 at last count in 2001, according to Stuart Rockoff, a historian at the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, Miss. But young Jews are leaving small places like Dothan in favor of cities like Atlanta and Birmingham, Rockoff said, and dozens of small-town synagogues have closed.

“A lot of the older people have died, and not many of the younger ones have stayed,” said Thelma Nomberg, a member of the Dothan temple who grew up in nearby Ozark, where she was the only Jewish student in public school in the 1940s. “We are dying.”

Being outside the Christian majority was never a problem, Nomberg said, even six decades ago: She won the Miss Ozark beauty pageant at 14 and sometimes attended church with friends after sleep-overs.

Now a widow, Nomberg has watched two of her four adult children leave for Florida as Temple Emanu-El lost nearly half its membership, down to about 50 families. She can only hope the recruitment plan hatched by Blumberg Family Jewish Community Services of Dothan works for her synagogue.

Launched in June, the Blumberg program has put advertisements in Jewish newspapers in Boston, Miami, Providence, R.I., and Washington, and it plans to expand the campaign.

“I think it’s important that we try to find young people that we could use in our religious school, our Sunday school and help in the way of trying to create more of a family-type atmosphere in our temple,” Blumberg said.

Groups offered financial aid for Jews to return to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and Jewish organizations around the country offer moving assistance for relocating families. A congregation has loans and other benefits for Jewish families moving into an area near Boston.

“Our program is distinctive because it’s Dothan, but it’s also distinctive because of the type of financial assistance,” said Rob Goldsmith, executive director of Blumberg Family Jewish Community Services, which will screen applicants and administer the grant program.

Trying to lure Jewish families to a quiet Southern town in a state with a reputation for hard-right politics and racial intolerance might be difficult. About 20 Jewish families have sought information about Dothan, though none has made the move.

Rockoff credits Blumberg and the rest of the congregation with fighting to remain in Dothan, where the synagogue has a full-time rabbi and the temple, which is aligned with the reform movement, hasn’t missed having a Friday night service in decades.

“It is a small community, but they have some deep pockets to be able to do this,” said Rockoff. “As a historian it is fascinating to see them trying to buck this trend.”

Dothan lies at the heart of the South’s peanut region, in Alabama’s southeastern corner just minutes from Florida and Georgia. It’s dotted with big fiberglass peanuts painted to resemble characters and people — there’s even an Elvis peanut.

Little things are big here: The city boasts what it calls the world’s smallest city block, a triangular traffic island near the civic center.

But Blumberg’s group is selling prospective Jewish residents on Dothan’s quality of life — its low cost of living, the heritage of its synagogue and its proximity to Florida beaches, about 80 miles away.

The city is the site of the down-home National Peanut Festival each fall, and it has a full schedule of community cultural events. It has two hospitals, a branch of Troy University and is just a short drive from Fort Rucker, the Army’s main helicopter training base.

Downtown is filled with quaint red-brick buildings and colorful murals, and traffic never gets too bad on Ross Clark Circle, the perimeter road.

“We have Friday afternoon rush minute, and that’s about it,” said manufacturing executive Ed Marblestone, 69, who grew up Jewish in Texas but married a Dothan girl and has lived in the town since 1961.

Valerie Barnes grew up in Panama and moved several times before settling 20 years ago in Dothan and becoming active at the synagogue. She’s never experienced any anti-Semitism and can’t imagine living anywhere else.

“The biggest thing Dothan has to offer is that it’s just a very family-oriented community,” said Barnes, who directs a hospital foundation. “Our congregation is very vibrant, and we have a lot of things that we get involved in.”

Rabbi Lynne Goldsmith didn’t know quite what to expect when she moved to Dothan a year ago to lead the congregation at Temple Emanu-El, which was founded in 1929. She came with her husband, who directs the Jewish community services group.

A Connecticut native, the rabbi halfway expected the Alabama of old with wide-open racism and dirt roads.

“The Northeast has a really warped perception of what the South is all about, and I found out it was all wrong,” she said. “The South is a wonderful place to be. The people are warm and friendly. There’s very little traffic. And best of all, there’s no snow.”

Interesting post, and interesting trek. Didn’t anybody else notice that what these guys set out to do was originally reccomended by the author of “Eats Shoots and Leaves”? Here’s a link that might he helpful:

Disclaimer: the author of that book is British, and their standard punctuation does differ (in ways annoying to me, but whatever) from ours. However, I do reccomend it for anyone who has ever been tempted to do what these folks did. Given what I have read of the comments, that is precious few of you. For those who cheer them on, check out the book!!!

At the risk of revealing my true whiteness, I must tell you that any grammarian say that you should never start a sentence with ‘however’. I do agree that is a great book, and has been a great inspiration to white people everywhere.

Wrong again, pea brain. I’m happy and enthusiastic. Your little postings are amusing, but please, let’s not go so far as to say they are true. There is only one Portnoy, and I get a kick out of upsetting you as often as I can. You stay true to form and on message, but would showing a slight sign of enlightenment learned from all of us who have tried be above you? Just wondering, but I’m sure as hell not hoping.

Oh, by the way, “Buck” is capitalized.

Keep them white where you can. To bad your home state of Mississippi has given up the ghost.

I loved these guys when I first read about them, and I love them now. If we could take just one small step toward actual basic literacy–like, oh, say, getting the apostrophes in the right places on great big public signs–there might be hope.

Of course, I’m not an American, so I might as well say it: For you lot, there’s no hope, white or otherwise.

Bravissimo!
I, too, engage in signage revisionism – as the Catholic Church says, error has no rights.
However, my focus to to convert all archaic weights & measures into metric – SI metric, of course…
We all do what we can; fight the power!

OMFG! It’s the white, male version of my sister and me! (The primary difference here is that, as exotic brown girls, we don’t get caught…)

[1. When there is a typo on a vintage sign, what is more important: Grammar or character?]

We’re the kind of nerdy, white-on-the-inside kids who will actually do the research to find out if it was grammatically acceptable in their day. If not, spray away!

[2. Once all typos have been corrected, what will be the next cause for white people to solve? (side note: do not say Africa, white people are already fast at work making t-shirts) ]

I’d always assumed that since the white folks had already dealt with shirts for Africa and the Indigenous American movement, they’d finally get around to fixing all the stuff they’d done to Pacific Islanders. Hula dancers got screwed over by colonization too!

OMFG! It’s the white, male version of my sister and me! (The primary difference here is that, as exotic brown girls, we don’t get caught…)

[1. When there is a typo on a vintage sign, what is more important: Grammar or character?]

We’re the kind of nerdy, white-on-the-inside kids who will actually do the research to find out if it was grammatically acceptable in their day. If not, spray away!

[2. Once all typos have been corrected, what will be the next cause for white people to solve? (side note: do not say Africa, white people are already fast at work making t-shirts) ]

I’d always assumed that since the white folks had already dealt with shirts for Africa and the Indigenous American movement, they’d finally get around to fixing all the stuff they’d done to Pacific Islanders. Hula dancers got screwed over by colonialism too!

Although it’s not a grammatical error, I have to admit that I wish I could replace all the letter “V’s” with the letter “U” on the library in Pittsburgh. I know what you are going to say, it’s historical and literally written in stone, but I’m sure we could fashion something out of paper mache and chicken wire.

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